VIREO SOLITxVRIUS, BLUE-HEADED VIREO. 99 



VIREO SOLITARIUS, (Wils.) Vieill. 



Blue-headed or Solitary Vireo. 



Muscicapa solitarkt, Wils., Am. Oru. li, 1810, 14:i, pi. 17, f. 6. 



Vireo soUtarius, Vieill., Nouv. Diet, xi, 1817.— Bp., Syn. 1828,70; List, 1838, -'G.— A ud., 

 Orn. Biog. i, 1831, 147 ; 1839, 432; pi. 28; Syu. 1839, 160.— Gn;., B. L. I. 1844, 

 160.— NuTT., Mail, i, 1832, 305.— AuD., B. Am. iv, 1842, 144, pi. 229.— Cass., Pr. 

 Phila. Acad. 18.51, 150.— ScL., P. Z. S. 1856, 298 (Cordova) ; 1859, 363 (Xalapa).— 

 Bd., B. N. a. 1858, 340.— Coop. & Suck., N. H. Wash. Ter. 1^59, 189.— Scl. & 

 Salv., Ibis, 1860, 31 (Gmitemala).— Cab., J. f. O. iii, 486 (Cuba).— Gundl., J. f. 

 O. 1861, 324 (Cuba).— TitiPPK, Pr. Ess. lust, vi, 1871, 117 (Minuesota, breeds).— 

 CoUES, Key N. A. Birds, 1872, 121, 66.— Gentuy, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1873, 354 

 (uest) ; aud of most late United States writers. 



Vireosylvia soViiaria, Bd., Rev. 1866, 347. — Coop., B. Cal. 117. — Sumich., Mem. Bost. See. 

 1869, 548 (Vera Cniz). 



Lanivirco soJiiariiis, Bd. — B. B. &- R., N. A. B. i, 1874, 373. 



Firco casaiiii, Xantus, Pr. Phila. Ac. 1858, 117.— Bd., B. N. A. 1858, 340, pL 78, f. 1. ( Var ?) 



Lanivirco soUfariiis var. cassini, B. B. & R., N. A. B. i, 1874, 377 (considered tenable 

 variety). 



Hab. — Whole United Stiites, except Southern Rocky Mountain region, where replaced 

 by F. var. j>/(fmZ)e((s. Canada {Mcllwraith, Pr. Ess. Inst, v, 1866, 87). Sonth to Guate- 

 mala in winter. Cuba. 



Lictitevant JVarren's Expediiion. — 4727-28, mouth of Vermilion River. 



Not obtained by Captain Rayuokls' Expedition. 



In the paper above quoted, Mr. Thomas G. Gentry makes the follow- 

 ing observations on the niditication of this species : 



"Andubou, in describing the nest of Virec solitarkts, VieilL, aflfiruis 

 it 'is prettily constructed and fixed in a partially pensile manner be- 

 tween two twigs of a low bush, on a branch running horizontally from 

 the main stem, aud formed externally of gray lichens, slightly put to- 

 gether, and lined with hair chiefly from the deer and raccoon.' My 

 experience has been qnite different. Out of the many nests which E 

 have seen and examined, I cannot recall a single specimen that will 

 answer to the above description. I have five nests of this species, fonr 

 of which are perfectly similar in structnre; the remaining one formed of 

 the culms of a species of ylirrt, constituting an exce})tional case, and the 

 only one that has ever fallen under my notice. They are all shallow, 

 loose in texture, scarcely surviving the season for which they were de- 

 signed, and ])laced between two twigs of a cedar or a maple tree at a 

 considernble elevation from the ground, on a branch nearly horizontal 

 to the main axis. They are built entirely of clusters of male flowers of 

 Quercus jmlusfri><, which, having performed their allotted function, don 

 their brownish hue at the very period when they can be utilized. 



"Here is evidently a change within a moderately short period, ren- 

 dered necessaiy by external causes. This necessity may have grown 

 out of inability to i)rocure the favorite materials, or a desire for sell- 

 preservation. In the case of the species under consideration, it cannot 

 be denied that the utter inability, without unnecessary physical etibrt, 

 to pr<)(!iire the hair of the afore-mentioned animals, particularly in sec- 

 tions whert' tlici/ have been comi)elled to retreat belore the advance of 

 man, may have been one of the causes which have indu(!ed the change. 

 I am satisfied, howe\'er, that it has not been the leading one, but that 

 self-preservation hasoi)erated in this case for individual an<l lamil.N good. 

 The adaptation of the colors of the female bird to the tints of surround- 

 ing objects, during the trying period of incubation, and the establish- 

 ment of ( ertain resemblaiuH's to familiar external obj«'cts, are two of the 

 ways in which it manifests itself.'' 



